This invention relates to new penicillin compounds and to processes for their production.
Penicillins are widely used for the treatment of diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria in human beings and animals. Although the effectiveness of these antibiotics is acknowledged, it is recognized that there is a need for new, improved, active compounds, for example to avoid the problems of allergy or the development of resistance in bacteria associated with the use of existing penicillins.
A significant amount of research has been directed to obtain such compounds, and a large number of penicillins have been prepared, usually by molecular modification of existing compounds. Not all molecular modifications have been successful. Thus attention has tended to focus on variation of the 6.beta.-side chain since in general it has been found that alteration to the .beta.-lactam or thiazolidine rings and/or the other substituents they carry may lead to diminution and sometimes elimination of antibiotic activity.
We have now found that the thiazolidine ring in penicillins may be substituted with an allenyl group to produce a novel class of compounds which have antibiotic activity and/or are of interest as intermediates for the production of penicillins with antibiotic activity.